The Cracked Acorn: New Year

New Year’s Day fell on December 25 until Gregory XIII revised the Julian calendar in 1582 and changed it to January 1. Janus, the god of beginnings and endings, had two faces; one looked into the present, and the other looked into the past. We may hold an affection for the past; that is why we traditionally sing AULD LANG SYNE  about “the good old days.”

New Year’s Day on the farm was a quiet day. I remember fallen snow and crisp air.  You could shout, and it came right back to you. If my uncle were visiting, we would call up Jughead, our dog, and tramp into the fields to scare up a rabbit or two.  The day passed quickly, walking over the farm. Our first big meal of the year would be a pot of cooked turnip greens seasoned with a ham hock.  There was always a bowl of black-eyed peas and plenty of cornbread fresh from the oven.  The dessert was bread pudding or maybe a berry cobbler.  My grandmother made fried apple pies from her own dried apple slices.  It was still the season for lots of baked sweet potatoes.

In other countries, New Year’s Day is observed in many ways: Austria-they have a roasted pig, Wales- they leave the back door open for the old year to leave, and the front door is open to admit the new year. In Spain, it is grapes for the day, Sicily- Garfield’s favorite, lasagna, and in China- it is to paint the front door red for good luck and not cut yourself with a knife on this day; this means bad luck.

This is also the time to look over the list of the 2023 resolutions and decide if we deserve a passing or a failing grade.  The list may have noted these: exercise more, stop some bad habits, be more friendly, improve the mind, and start a new hobby or even try to learn a foreign language.

The New Year may not be our Promised Land.  The children of Israel looked forward to the land flowing with milk and honey.  It was only after the spies had returned and told of giants in the land that they felt afraid and lost faith in God.  Every year may not come up to our expectations, but time spares no one, and we have only one choice and that is to cross over into a new and yet unmarred year.

The Bible offers these encouragements for the New Year:

“Remember His marvelous works which He has done, His wonders, and the judgments of His mouth” (Psalm 105:5)

“For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:10)

“Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28)